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30 Jun 2004 : Column 352W—continued

Gibraltar

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria are used to decide whether Royal Navy ships use (a) a Spanish port and (b) Gibraltar. [181089]

Mr. Ingram: The programming of Royal Navy ships (and Royal Fleet Auxiliary or Ministry of Defence owned/chartered vessels) to Gibraltar or to Spanish ports is dependent on a number of criteria including any specific requirements of the ship, available port facilities, logistical requirements, maintenance requirements or the need of the ship's company to undertake a period of rest and recuperation. The goodwill generated from visiting foreign ports makes a significant contribution to defence diplomacy, the continuing development of bilateral relations and support to UK Industry. A balanced approach is, therefore, taken to ensure that Gibraltar and other ports in the region, including Spanish ports, are visited on a regular basis. In addition, Royal Navy ships en route to or returning from deployments east of Suez and Atlantic Patrol Tasks are routinely programmed to visit Gibraltar.
 
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Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what action can be taken against Spain over its refusal to allow Royal Air Force aeroplanes to fly to Gibraltar; [181091]

(2) if he will discuss with the new Spanish government the reservation inserted in the NATO Standardisation Agreement 1100 by the previous Spanish Government on naval ships and Gibraltar. [181090]

Mr. Ingram: The Government are committed to developing an effective relationship with the new Spanish Government on all defence matters, including those relating to Gibraltar.

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost was of flying around Spain to reach Gibraltar by the Royal Air Force in 2003–04. [181092]

Mr. Ingram: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Honours

Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much time his Department spent dealing with honours in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by Civil Service grade. [173036]

Mr. Caplin: The majority of the work on honours to civilian personnel is undertaken by the Departmental Honours Team. No record is taken of the time each person or group is involved with this work. As no records are held centrally, the information requested is not available on time spent on honours related work, by military or civilian personnel who are not members of the Department's Civilian Honours Team.
 
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Media Coverage (Iraq War)

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on discussions with media organisations on coverage of non-embedded reporting during the Iraq war. [179439]

Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's procedures for dealing with non-embedded (or non-accredited) journalists reporting from conflict areas is contained in the Green Book—"Working Arrangements with the Media in times of Emergency, Tension, Conflict or War".

Following our initial assessment of the lessons to be learned from the operation in Iraq, we are reviewing and updating the Green Book. The aim of this review is to ensure that the arrangements set out in the publication remain relevant, both to evolving media practice and the conduct of military operations. As part of this review, Ministry of Defence officials have had discussions with various media organisations, both national and international. We aim to publish the revised Green Book in the summer.

Military Vehicles

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list by vehicle type the number of military vehicles that have (a) been written off, (b) been withdrawn from use pending repair and (c) sustained minor damage in each of the past five years. [179479]

Mr. Caplin: Information on damage to vehicles, other than that caused through involvement in road traffic accidents, is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

The number of military vehicles damaged in five years by whether or not they are beyond road traffic accidents in the last economic repair is as follows:

	1999–2000		2000–01		2001–02
Vehicle type	Beyond economic repair	Minor	Beyond economic repair	Minor	Beyond economic repair	Minor
All vehicles	297	9,133	254	8,460	274	8,446
Motorcycle	5	47	9	50	5	29
Car Saloons	171	2,524	134	2,445	146	2,544
Mini Buses	24	995	31	980	30	979
Motor Coaches	1	260	3	235	2	272
Vans	16	753	16	720	21	753
Ambulances	—	66	—	72	1	78
Truck Utility	47	1,998	34	1,751	34	1,600
Truck Utility Heavy Duty	4	48	2	56	1	57
Truck Utility Heavy	—	33	—	33	—	22
4 tonne	12	803	9	639	11	656
8 tonne	6	210	4	144	4	105
14 tonne	1	74	—	53	2	30
Other Cargo Vehicles	1	221	1	258	3	317
Medium Ability Load Carrier	2	269	2	239	3	214
Improved Medium Ability Load Carrier	—	34	—	35	—	29
Fuel Vehicle	—	63	2	52	3	52
Recovery Vehicle	—	42	1	41	—	43
Articulated Vehicle	1	157	—	158	4	185
Tank Transporter	—	35	2	17	—	31
BV206	1	17	—	16	—	7
Fire Fighting Vehicle	—	27	—	37	—	32
Tracked A Vehicle	—	125	1	122	—	102
Wheeled A vehicle	—	49	—	45	—	45
Plant Vehicles	1	122	—	147	2	135
Misc Engr and Trials	1	47	—	23	—	18
Special Vehicle	3	114	3	92	2	111

 
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	2002–03		2003–04
Vehicle type	Beyond economic repair	Minor	Beyond economic repair	Minor
All vehicles	307	8,759	198	7,981
Motorcycle	4	43	2	15
Car Saloons	187	2,743	104	2,756
Mini Buses	21	965	12	789
Motor Coaches	—	303	—	244
Vans	19	732	23	672
Ambulances	—	75	—	73
Truck Utility	46	1,539	31	1,368
Truck Utility Heavy Duty	1	73	1	32
Truck Utility Heavy	—	27	—	18
4 tonne	12	606	5	545
8 tonne	4	97	1	95
14 tonne	1	43	—	33
Other Cargo Vehicles	3	421	5	505
Medium Ability Load Carrier	2	257	3	148
Improved Medium Ability Load Carrier	—	24	—	21
Fuel Vehicle	1	55	1	54
Recovery Vehicle	—	30	1	30
Articulated Vehicle	2	196	6	142
Tank Transporter	1	18	—	13
BV206	—	6	1	11
Fire Fighting Vehicle	—	114	—	41
Tracked A Vehicle	—	75	—	76
Wheeled A vehicle	—	46	—	59
Plant Vehicles	1	161	2	115
Misc Engr and Trials	1	19	—	22
Special Vehicle	1	91	—	104

Note:
Information for 200304 relates to accidents reported by 1 June 2004.
Source:
Directorate Supply Chain (integration) (Transport).

Radhi Nu'ma

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the death of Radhi Nu'ma in Iraq. [179030]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 15 June 2004]: Mr. Radhi Nama (also known as Nu'ma) suffered a heart attack while in detention on 8 May 2003. A Special Investigations Branch investigation concluded that no crime could be established.

RAF Innsworth

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on future plans for RAF Innsworth. [178997]

Mr. Ingram: The use of RAF Innsworth is kept under review, along with all defence estates. However, there are no current plans to cease defence activity on the site.

BAE Systems

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims for payment by BAE Systems under the Al-Yamamah programme relating (a) to support, including accommodation and travel, for overseas visitors from Saudi Arabia and (b) to support, including visa-related services, for BAE staff travelling to Saudi Arabia have been endorsed since 1 January 1997 by staff of the Saudi Armed Forces Project Office; and what the value of each set of such claims has been in each year since 1 January 1997. [178616]

 
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Mr. Hoon: Since 1 January 1997, 67 BAE Systems' claims have been endorsed by members of the Saudi Armed Forces Project Office (DGSAP) that included accommodation and/or travel costs for Saudi civilian and Service personnel on duty in the United Kingdom. BAE Systems does not submit claims for the costs of staff travel to Saudi Arabia for DGSAP endorsement.

Details of the claims endorsed by DGSAP are confidential between the two Governments, and I am therefore withholding that information under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

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